A resurgent Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look for their fourth consecutive victory when they face an unpredictable Punjab Kings as the two sides fight for survival in the Indian Premier League, in Dharamsala on Thursday.
England will rest Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood for the three-match one-day international series against South Africa starting in Cape Town on February 4. Worcestershire seamer Pat Brown, Somerset batsman Tom Banton and the Lancashire pair of Matthew Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood received their maiden call-ups.
The fans were estastic as Chennai Super Kings outclassed Delhi Capitals by four wickets to enter their ninth IPL final, in Dubai on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals will face a stern test of character as they look to arrest a shocking slide in a do-or-die IPL Eliminator against an in-form RCB.
Except for Dasun Shanaka, no Sri Lankan batsmen looked comfortable against England bowlers. The 29-year-old all-rounder scored an unbeaten 48 runs off 65 balls.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL 2024 campaign is just one-match old, but it has already exposed their biggest chink. It's fragility in bowling, and they need better returns from bowlers against a confident Punjab Kings at an unforgiving M Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Monday.
'I don't think anyone can take a call on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whether this is going to be his last year.'
RCB head coach Andy Flower too was happy with the acquisitions.
Sam's brother, Tom, has been drafted into England's squad for the World Cup. In addition, Surrey's left-arm seamer Reece Topley has been added as a travelling reserve. Topley will join the England party in due course
RCB on paper look like a team that can make it to the playoffs and with Dinesh Karthik playing his last IPL, Faf turning 40 and Kohli and Maxwell in their mid-thirties, the Challengers will be determined to win it for the veterans of the team.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's fairytale resurgent run will be up against the might of five-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the weather gods when the two sides clash in an epic do-or-die match to decide the fourth and final team for the IPL play-offs, in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, Rajasthan Royals struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine against Punjab Kings in their IPL match in Guwahati on Wednesday.
The Bengaluru outfit will hope for a reversal at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, a venue that carries similar traits as RCB's home -- Chinnaswamy Stadium -- in terms of a smooth pitch and a blistering outfield adding value to the batters' shots.
With an eye to revive fortunes this season, CSK players including Suresh Raina, Deepak Chahar and Sam Curran started practice on Wednesday.
'Archer is returning to the UK for further management and investigation of his right elbow injury'
Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to unleash their brute batting power on struggling Royal Challengers Bengaluru when the two teams face off in their return-leg fixture of the IPL in Hyderabad on Thursday.
If the teams they represent reach the business end of the T20 league, they either have to miss the finale or skip the national duty.
How the IPL teams have shaped up after the auction.
After the first qualifier ended in Dubai on Sunday, players from the Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings caught up with their mates from the opposing side.
Gujarat Giants will be wary of Royal Challengers Bengaluru's newfound firepower in the middle-order when the teams clash in the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper-batsmen showed his class with an outstanding exhibition of strokeplay leaving the hapless Chennai Super Kings bowlers stunned, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL campaign that began with optimism has melted into chaos. Their bowlers require a drastic transformation in mindset against Sunrisers Hyderabad for them to register an elusive win in Bengaluru on Monday.
The first ODI of the three-match series will be played on July 30 followed by the other two on August 1 and 4.
England name their 16-member squad for T20Is against India
Former South African quick Dale Steyn opined that MI's frontline pacers Bumrah and Coetzee need support from other bowlers, given the rigours of the IPL. He hinted that an off-colour Pandya was not helping MI's bowling department.
Harshal finished with 2/28, taking his wicket tally to 22 in 13 games and overtake Jasprit Bumrah for the most wickets in IPL 2024. The pacer is way ahead of everyone when it comes to bowling in the end overs, with 16 wickets between the 16th and 20th overs -- the most by any bowler this season so far with Bumrah a distant second on 11 wickets in the death overs.
'The World Cup squad will fly to the Caribbean on May 31 ahead of England's opening group match against Scotland at the Kensington Oval, Barbados, on Wednesday, June 4.'
From a maths perspective, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans can still reach the IPL playoffs, but they need to ward off inner gremlins on Saturday to notch a mandatory win to keep that dream flickering.
The KKR think-tank might not be unduly worried as their campaign is still at a nascent stage, but they would like to see the first-choice pacer and spinner finding their range at the earliest.
Desperate Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be under tremendous pressure to get their act together against an equally struggling Mumbai Indians when the two teams face-off in an Indian Premier League match in Mumbai on Thursday.
More than Mahendra Singh Dhoni wielding his magic with the bat, it was young Rishabh Pant's captaincy which left everyone bewildered.
All-rounder Ben Stokes on Thursday was not included in England's 15-man preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup as he continues to take a break from cricket to focus on his mental health, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said.
England also named their final one-day squad before the World Cup, with fast bowlers Tom Curran and David Willey returning to a unit who defeated Sri Lanka 3-1. Tom replaces brother Sam as Liam Dawson and Olly Stone also miss out.
Once again, RCB are looking on course to finish without a trophy after losing six out of their first seven games.
With five consecutive defeats, bottom-placed RCB have the daunting task of winning their remaining seven games to keep their play-off prospects alive.
Pushed into a tight corner, Royal Challengers Bengaluru rose above their frailties to notch four wins on the trot and stay alive in the race to play-offs. However, a volatile Delhi Capitals offer them a different challenge in their penultimate IPL league match in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royal Ben Stokes is to completely recover from jet lag after a long journey from New Zealand.
An inconsistent Royal Challengers Bengaluru would be eager to hit the turnaround button when they host Lucknow Super Giants, who will keep an eye on regular skipper KL Rahul's fitness, in the IPL in Bengaluru on Tuesday
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